What "Up" Did In Ten Minutes, We Can Do In Three

July 4, 2014 7:04 AM

We've looked before at the trend of tear jerking commercials in Thailand. They are still at it, with this, and this, and this, and--oh God--this.
posted by Pater Aletheias (27 comments total)

oh God
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:35 AM on July 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

That last link is a doozy.
posted by mistersquid at 7:43 AM on July 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh, Lord. I know the instant I read this that Thai Life Insurance was back. Those things are a whole new level of tear-jerker.

My Son

My Daughter

Daddy

Grandpa

Grandma

Marry me


YOU NEED LIFE INSURANCE BECAUSE WE RIP YOUR STILL-BEATING HEART OUT OF YOUR CHEST WITH OUR COMMERCIALS - Thai Life
posted by magstheaxe at 7:45 AM on July 4, 2014 [27 favorites]

can't type, too busy ugly sobbing
posted by viggorlijah at 8:02 AM on July 4, 2014 [4 favorites]

even their hair product commercials are tear jerkers!
posted by desjardins at 8:13 AM on July 4, 2014

How none of those storytellers have been snatched up by bigger media companies is beyond my comprehension. Can you imagine what juggernauts pictures like The Notebook, The Fault in Our Stars or any similar movie would've become with these folks on board?
posted by droplet at 8:14 AM on July 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

Crying like John Boehner at an onion-dicing contest in a sandstorm here. Now I'll have to re-read the Richard Mellon Scaife post just to get cynical enough to go out into the world again.
posted by PlusDistance at 8:16 AM on July 4, 2014 [7 favorites]

Oh goddamn, that one with the boy and the medicine for his mum. So beautiful and I don't care if it's an ad.
posted by h00py at 8:53 AM on July 4, 2014 [8 favorites]

Ye gods. I could barely watch the first one til the end. The others will have to wait until my feels have recovered.
posted by greenish at 9:25 AM on July 4, 2014

I love the second and third ones, especially. Thanks for posting these.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:27 AM on July 4, 2014

I've seen the last one before and thought "Oh, I remember this, it wasn't so bad, now that I've seen it, I can watch it without crying." Nope. Ugly crying.

Then I watched the first one, and thought, "Oh, she's going to have alzheimer's and that's her husband. That's so obvious, it won't get to me." Huge, gobbing tears.

I'm not even clicking on the rest. I can't spare that kind of emotional energy. Man, can Thai filmmakers push buttons.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:43 AM on July 4, 2014 [4 favorites]

How none of those storytellers have been snatched up by bigger media companies is beyond my comprehension.

They have been, sort of--Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok produced these advertisements for Thai Life. There's a lot of creative talent in South East Asia, and forays into the West don't always end well.
posted by peripathetic at 10:10 AM on July 4, 2014

Damnit. I clicked on the rest. Even after I said I wasn't going to, I clicked on the rest.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:12 AM on July 4, 2014 [7 favorites]

Soup in a bag!
posted by Jode at 10:13 AM on July 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Has anyone ever explored why this is? Thailand is known as the land of smiles (in fact, they smile even when they're angry) and many expat / travel blogs talk about studying the nuance behind the many different kinds of Thai smiles.

So when it comes to weepy commercials, maybe they just need the catharsis?

Or being Buddhist culture, they're pulling on the empathy strings to get people to buy stuff? (vs fear mongering in the US or Canada)
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:16 AM on July 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you'd like to see the feature-length version of something like this complete with Muay Thai, take a look at "Chocolate" (2008).
posted by lagomorphius at 10:26 AM on July 4, 2014 [4 favorites]

why are you doing this to me why
posted by billiebee at 11:47 AM on July 4, 2014 [4 favorites]

The Alzheimer's one made me cry so hard my dog was worried and had to come comfort me. Thanks, Jasper. It helped.
posted by Archer25 at 1:34 PM on July 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

I am sobbing without making a sound because if I actually make the noise I want to my husband will think someone died. My dogs are wrapped around my legs.

Okay okay the doctor from the last one will take care of the three kids from the second one, right???
posted by kimberussell at 2:58 PM on July 4, 2014 [3 favorites]

mrrussell: What the hell happened?
me: (buh wuh wuh snorfle) Metafilter! Sad ads! School uniform! Waaaaahhh!
mrrussell: For being so bright, you are SO DUMB when it comes to clicking on sad links.
posted by kimberussell at 3:24 PM on July 4, 2014 [6 favorites]

There's also this one. Eat your fish oil pills or you won't live to see your kids grow up.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:08 PM on July 4, 2014

And the saddest one of all.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:11 PM on July 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Up didn't even do anything for me., but this Google one in India and Pakistan destroys me every time.
posted by Ouverture at 1:01 AM on July 5, 2014

GOD DAMNIT I CRIED.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 4:22 AM on July 5, 2014

Not wanting to burst into tears at work, I haven't clicked, though I did succumb to a drive by YouTube posting of the cm with the young guy doing random acts of kindness, and the question "why does he do it?" he walks up to the woman begging, and her daughter isn't there, and oh my god is she dead, did he somehow not do enough, and then there she is in the school uniform that he helped them buy so that maybe someday she can break out of the cycle of poverty and

Goddamn it, didn't want to cry at work.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:16 AM on July 5, 2014 [2 favorites]

Alzheimer's?! Why didn't anyone tell me not to click the first link?!
posted by Ghidorah at 7:21 AM on July 5, 2014

Can't be that bad. Clicked. Five seconds. You bastard.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:35 AM on July 5, 2014 [2 favorites]